Nifty ends below 8000, Sensex loses 98 pts; HUL falls 5%

After remaining sluggish during the day, the market has ended on lower note. The Sensex was down 98.15 points at 26752.90 and the Nifty slipped 22.85 points at 7991.70. About 1257 shares advanced, 1610 shares declined and 106 shares were unchanged.

City-based UCO Bank today said it has “identified” Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) as a “wilful defaulter” and will be sending a notice to the defunct carrier. “We have identified KFA as a wilful defaulter. We are in the process of sending a notice to the company in this regard”, a source in the bank told PTI. Other banks like State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank are also mulling this route. United Bank of India has already declared KFA a ‘wilful defaulter’ for defaulting a loan of Rs 350 crore.

Beside KFA, UCO Bank will also send a notice to the company which had furnished a corporate guarantee for availing a loan of around Rs 450 crore, the source said.

02:55pm Gold Update

Gold prices tumbled by Rs 350 to Rs 27,450 per ten gram in the national capital today following a long weekend and ending of festive season with demand drying up amidst a weak global trend.

Silver also eased by Rs 35 to Rs 38,200 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said fall in demand from jewellers and retailers due to end of festive season and a weak global trend where gold retreated from a six-week high as investors expected theFederal Reserve to end its bond-buying programme this week, eroding safe-haven demand, mainly pulled down precious metal prices here.

Gold in Singapore, which normally set price trend on the domestic front, lost 0.3 percent to USD 1,227.51 an ounce. In Delhi, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity plunged byRs 350 each to Rs 27,450 and Rs 27,250 per ten gram respectively. It had lost Rs 125 in the past two days. Sovereign followed suit and shed Rs 100 at Rs 24,200 perpiece of eight gram, reports PTI.

02:30pm Interview

In an interview to CNBC-TV18 Ashok Hiramat, CMD, Astec Lifesciences, said that the company’s topline in the quarter gone by was marginally lower due to its focus on high value products. It also launched two new products where margins were better and these products contributed around 15 percent to sales in FY15, he added.

Astec Lifesciences foresees a topline growth of 20-25 percent in this fiscal and aims to maintain EBITDA margin in the range of 23-25 percent, he said.

02:00pm Market Check

It is a slow start to the post Diwali week as the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 90.62 points to 26760.43 and the Nifty declined 20.80 points to 7993.75.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1532 to 1195 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Adrian mowat of JPMorgan told CNBC-TV18 that he would add more money into India now. He downgraded Brazil to Neutral and recommended switching out of Brazil and into India. He expects another 20 percent returns on Indian markets in next 12 months.

Meanwhile, global markets have been mixed today. European markets traded with gains of over 0.5 percent while Asian markets like Hong Kong and Shanghai fell more than 0.5 percent. All eyes are on FOMC and Bank of Japan meetings lined up later this week.

In more from the commodity markets today, Brent crude continued to lose after falling for five straight weeks. Goldman Sachs cut its Brent crude price forecast to USD 85 a barrel versus USD 100 earlier predicting supply growth from non-OPEC producers will outpace demand.

In news outside the markets, the Union Government has named three persons who are black money account holders in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, namely Pradeep Burban (former director of Dabur), Pankaj Chimanlal (a Rajkot-based bullion trader and Radha Timblo (Goa-based miner).